Happenings  in   the   Seminary 


THE  COUNTRY  CHURCHES  AND  THE  RURAL 

PROBLEM. 

The  Carew  Lectures,  i  909-1910. 

The  Seminary  was  peculiarly  fortunate  in  its  choice  both  of 
a  subject  and  lecturer  for  the  Carew  Course  this  fall.  The  aroused 
interest  in  rural  affairs  during  the  past  few  years,  quickened 
by  President  Roosevelt's  appointment  of  a  Commission  for  their 
examination,  has  made  the  problem  of  the  rural  church  one  of 
peculiar  interest.  President  Butterfield's  connection  with  the 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  his  sympathetic  interest  in 
the  labors  of  the  rural  ministry  manifested  by  the  Conferences 
for  them  in  connection  with  the  summer  school  of  the  college 
at  Amherst,  and  his  selection  by  President  Roosevelt  for  the 
work  of  the  Rural  Commission,  gave  assurance  of  his  preeminent 
equipment  for  the  service.  The  straightforward  directness  of 
the  speaker,  the  grace  of  his  formal  presentation,  his  quick  sense 
of  humor,  and  his  alert  and  profound  interest  in  the  rural  problem 
on  its  religious  and  ethical,  as  well  as  on  its  sociological  and 
economic  sides,  gave  an  added  attractiveness  to  the  lectures  as 
they  were  delivered.  The  third  of  the  lectures  appears  among 
the  "  contributed  articles  "  and  we  are  able  to  give  comparatively 
full  abstracts  of  the  others. 

Lecture  I.     The  Rural  Problem. 

Importance  of  the  Food  Supply. 

The  food  supply  of  any  country  bears  an  intimate  relation  to 
the  development  of  all  its  industries.  And  in  spite  of  the  qualifi- 
cations necessary  to  the  original  Malthusian  doctrine  of  popula- 
tion, it  is  mere  truism  to  assert  that  ultimately  the  food  supply 
will  govern  with  an  iron  hand  the  extent  of  the  world's  population. 
Consequently  the  whole  industrial  order  under  modern  conditions 
is  rooted  in  an  adequate  food  supply.  Now  the  only  source  of 
food  so  far  made  available  is  the  soil,  carefully  tilled  and  utilized 
for  the  growing  of  plants  either  for  direct  human  consumption 
or  for  food  for  animals  which  in  turn  become  human  food.  The 
question  of  food  supply  in  America  is  a  fundamental  human 
question.  It  is  essentially  a  rural  problem  because  the  people 
who  furnish  the  food  are  the  rural  people. 

(57) 


58  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

Since  the  Civil  War  the  tremendous  growth  of  American 
manufacturing,  the  construction  of  railway  lines,  the  organization 
of  great  financial  concerns,  have  captured  our  imaginations,  and 
we  have  come  to  think  of  the  agricultural  industry  as  a  matter 
of  decreasing  importance.  Relative  to  our  total  industry,  agri- 
culture occupies  a  less  prominent  place  than  it  did  half  a  century 
ago.  But  it  is  still  our  largest  single  industry,  with  greater  real 
capitalization,  larger  net  value  of  product,  and  employing  more 
workers,  than  any  other  industry.  Directly  and  indirectly  it 
prepares  a  vast  freightage  for  transportation  companies.  It  pro- 
foundly influences  our  foreign  commerce.  It  has  the  most 
intimate  relation  to  our  great  financial  institutions.  Its  success 
or  failure  bears  fundamentally  upon  general  business  conditions. 
One-third  of  our  workers  are  workers  of.land  and  consumers  of 
manufactures.  Thus  from  whatever  angle  we  may  view  it,  the 
business  of  farming  in  America  stands  out  as  a  great  essential 
business  —  the  greatest  American  business  in  fact.  It  hardly 
seems  necessary  to  remark  that  the  implications  of  these  facts 
involve  vital  economic  questions.  Agriculture  looms  up,  there- 
fore, as  a  prime  economic  interest  in  American  progress. 

These  facts  bring  to  the  fore  the  very  great  significance  of  the 
rural  population. 

But  mere  mass  is  not  a  final  test  of  significance.  Yet  one  can 
hardly  contemplate  the  fact  that  nearly  forty  millions  of  our 
American  people  live  under  conditions  that  are  essentially  rural, 
without  being  impressed  by  the  important  role  those  millions  must 
necessarily  play  in  our  national  life. 

Consider  for  example  the  matter  of  political  power.  It  is 
commonly  asserted  that  our  cities  already  dominate  the  govern- 
ment, and  that  in  a  short  time  they  will  be  absolute  masters  of  the 
political  situation.  Yet  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  country  towns 
in  states  like  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  still  hold  power  out 
of  all  proportion  to  their  numerical  strength  and  are  not  likely 
to  relinquish  it  in  the  near  future.  Furthermore,  under  our  sys- 
tem of  election  districts,  the  rural  vote  dominates  in  the  majority 
of  these  districts  electing  members  of  our  legislatures  and  of  the 
Congress,  and  in  many  other  districts  holds  the  balance  of  power. 
The  potential  strength  of  the  farming  class  is  such  that  the  pol- 
itical beliefs  and  political  honesty  of  our  rural  electorate  become 
a  matter  of  first  importance. 

Inasmuch  as  the  open  country  still  furnishes  and  always  will 
furnish  an  army  of  recruits  for  the  cities,  it  is  important  that  the 
general  level  of  intelligence  shall  be  maintained  in  the  rural  com- 


The  Carew  Lectures  59 

munities.  So  it  is  with  motives,  morals,  ideals  of  personal  and 
neighborhood  life. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  relatively,  agriculture  as  an 
industry  and  the  rural  people  numerically  are  declining.  We 
have,  to  be  sure,  a  rapidly  increasing  non-agricultural  population, 
coincident  with  a  check  in  the  supply  of  new  agricultural  land ; 
but  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  less  than  the  present  number 
of  workers  will  be  needed  on  our  farms.  It  is  probable  that  the 
number  of  agricultural  workers  and  consequently  of  the  rural 
population  will  slowly  but  steadily  increase  for  an  indefinite  period 
of  time. 

The  effort  has  been  made  to  show  how  important  are  the 
agricultural  industry  and  the  rural  population  as  factors  in  our 
American  business  and  life.  It  is  now  pertinent  to  inquire 
whether  there  is  such  a  thing  as  "  a  rural  problem."  Are  there 
tendencies  likely  to  injure  the  business  or  to  render  the  people 
less  efficient?  Are  there  forces  at  work  which  may  affect  the 
relationship  of  agriculture  to  national  life?  No  doubt  there  are 
special  difficulties  in  farming  —  is  there  one  large  rural  question  ? 
But,  I  would  attempt  to  outline  a  series  of  propositions  which  it 
seems  to  me  are  fundamental.  It  will  be  observed  that  a  rough 
grouping  of  these  propositions  brings  them  into  two  main  classes 
—  those  that  have  a  bearing  peculiarly  industrial  or  economic, 
and  those  that  deal  with  the  larger  social  aspects  of  country  life. 
Then  I  purpose  to  summarize  by  stating  in  specific  terms  the 
total  rural  problem  in  its  large  national  aspect. 

1.  We  must  put  all  our  land  to  its  best  possible  use,  as 
rapidly  as  it  may  be  needed,  at  the  same  time  conserving  its 
fertility. 

There  are  perhaps  four  essentials  in  a  policy  that  seeks  to 
apply  this  principle  of  adapting  the  land  to  its  best  use. 

i.  Adaptation  of  the  land  to  those  crops  which  it  can  best 
produce.  In  a  rough  way  the  American  farmer  has  done  pre- 
cisely this  thing.  But  it  admits  of  much  further  development  in 
a  more  scientific  way. 

2.  Adaptation  to  market  conditions.  As  between  two  crops 
to  which  any  area  of  land  is  equally  well  adapted  by  reason  of 
soil  and  climate,  that  necessarily  will  be  chosen  which  the 
better  supplies  the  available  market.  It  should  be  noted  that 
adaptation  to  the  market  does  not  imply  acquiescence  on  the  part 
of  the  farmer  in  the  defective  organization  of  our  methods  of 
distribution  of  products.    There  are  actual  market  conditions  that 


60  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

must  be  met ;  there  are  improvements  in  the  market  that  may  be 
made. 

3.  Adaptation  of  farm  practice  to  scientific  methods  of 
production. 

There  has  been  a  revolutionary  change  in  the  best  farm 
practice,  during  the  past  twenty  years,  due  almost  wholly  to  the 
results  of  the  labors  of  agricultural  experiment  stations  and 
agricultural  colleges.    The  end  is  not  yet. 

This  principle  of  adaptation  to  modern  scientific  knowledge 
has  far-reaching  economic  consequences.  Only  the  intelligent  and 
the  alert  will  quickly  take  up  with  the  new  things.  The  intelligent 
use  of  modern  methods  of  farming  inevitably  makes  it  increas- 
ingly difficult  for  the  inefficient  farmer  to  keep  up  his  relative 
status. 

4.  Adaptation  of  farm  management  to  the  most  approved 
business  practice. 

Agriculture  in  general  needs  to  be  put  upon  a  far  more  busi- 
ness-like basis  than  that  on  which  it  rests  today. 

There  is  an  important  reservation  in  the  application  of  this 
general  principle  of  adaptation,  namely,  that  the  land  shall  be 
used  as  rapidly  as  it  may  be  needed. 

Another  vital  consideration  is  that  while  land  shall  be  put 
to  its  very  best  use,  and  in  fact  used  to  its  full  capacity,  it  must 
be  treated  in  such  a  way  that  its  natural  fertility  shall  be  fully 
conserved,  if  not  increased. 

II.  There  must  be  a  reasonable  financial  return  to  the 
masses  of  soil-workers,  as  well  as  opportunity  for  fairly  large 
rewards  for  special  skill. 

It  is  not  enough  that  a  few  highly  intelligent  farmers  can 
make  a  "  good  living  "  on  the  farm.  It  is  necessary  that  as  a 
class  soil-workers,  of  fair  intelligence  and  skill,  can  secure  a 
decent  living  —  a  living  somewhat  commensurate  with  general 
standards  of  life.  While  agriculture  can  never  yield  the  large 
rewards  that  sometimes  flow  from  speculative  or  quasi-specula- 
tive enterprises,  it  is  necessary  that  for  the  men  of  force  and 
superior  intelligence  who  devote  themselves  to  farming  there  is 
waiting  a  reward  in  some  degree  commensurate  with  the  effort 
expended.  If  this  is  not  possible,  agriculture  must  constantly  be 
weakened  by  loss  of  leadership. 

III.  There  must  be  an  efficient  means  of  distribution  of  soil 
products. 

This  is  by  no  means  the  case  at  present  in  America.  The 
near-by  farmer  has  been  consistently  sacrificed  in  the  interests  of 
the  long  haul,  and  in  fact  the  very  perfection  of  this  long-distance 


The  Carew  Lectures  61 

system  has  over-estimated  specialized  production  for  a  far-away 
market. 

But  far  less  efficient  than  the  transportation  machinery  is  the 
present  method  of  handling  products,  particularly  specialized 
products,  between  the  producer  and  consumer.  The  difference 
between  the  farm  price  and  the  cost  to  consumer  on  the  whole 
range  of  plant  and  animal  products  is  altogether  too  great.  It 
must  be  vastly  improved. 

IV.  The  land  should  in  general  be  owned  by  those  who 
till  it. 

This  is  not  to  be  construed  to  mean  that  only  one  man  and  his 
family  shall  in  all  cases  work  a  single  farm.  We  must  leave 
room  for  an  enterprise  sufficiently  large  to  utilize  some  additional 
labor ;  but  we  do  not  wish  a  condition  of  even  resident  landlordism 
implying  vast  areas  managed  by  one  owner  and  worked  by  a 
large  body  of  wage  earners.  Not  that  such  instances  may  not 
exist,  but  they  should  not  be  the  prevailing  type.  Landownership 
gives  community  interest  and  is  vital  to  permanent  rural 
civilization. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  the  question  of  foreign  immigration  has 
an  important  bearing.  If  it  should  come  about  that  hordes  of 
peasants  from  abroad  should  settle  upon  our  lands  more  rapidly 
than  the  somewhat  sluggish  social  machinery  of  rural  life  can 
grind  the  grist,  American  standards  would  be  superseded  by 
lower  standards  and  a  system  of  peasantry  inaugurated,  which 
would  be  most  detrimental  if  not  fatal  to  the  genius  of  our 
national  life. 

V.  The  social  strength  of  the  farming  class  must  be 
conserved. 

It  is  vitally  important  in  the  development  of  American  civi- 
lization that  a  class  of  people  numerically  so  great  shall  maintain 
standards  of  individual  and  social  strength  consistent  with  our 
civilization.  This  may  be  expressed  as  the  need  for  conservation 
of  social  power,  and  is  made  up  of  at  least  the  following  elements  : 
( i )  High  intelligence  —  sufficiently  high  at  least  to  represent 
average  American  life.  (2)  Organizing  capacity.  (3)  Cul- 
ture and  refinement.  Rusticity  of  mind  or  of  manners  must  not 
be  a  feature  of  rural  life.  (4)  Political  efficiency.  (5)  Active 
and  healthy  moral  and  spiritual  life. 

VI.  The  rural  community  must  be  served  by  efficient  social 
institutions,  adapted  to  the  peculiar  needs  of  rural  life. 

The  three  great  classes  of  institutions  are  the  church  and 
allied  agencies  of  religion,  the  schools  and  other  means  of  educa- 
tion, and  the  voluntary  organizations  and  cooperative  associations 


62  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

for  various  ends.  All  these  must  be  efficient  for  their  purpose, 
developed  to  meet  the  special  needs  that  arise  under  rural 
conditions. 

VII.  A  clear  and  high  ideal  for  rural  life  must  be  developed 
and  maintained. 

This  must  be  regarded  as  after  all  the  most  significant  need 
in  rural  life,  the  most  important  aspect  of  the  rural  problem. 

A  little  study  of  each  one  of  these  seven  propositions  will 
reveal  serious  defects  in  our  agricultural  industry  and  com- 
munity life,  and  indicate  the  most  important  steps  toward 
amelioration.  With  respect  to  them,  our  agriculture  is  not  in  a 
wholly  satisfactory  condition.    There  certainly  is  a  rural  problem. 

We  may  say  that  the  rural  problem  is  to  maintain  upon  our 
land  a  class  of  people  whose  status  in  our  society  fairly  repre- 
sents American  ideals,  industrial,  political,  social  and  ethical. 

Attention  should  be  called  to  two  further  implications  of 
this  analysis  and  statement  of  the  rural  problem.  First,  that  the 
industrial  factor  is  essential.  Second,  that  the  ultimate  problem 
is  by  no  means  wholly  one  of  material  prosperity,  but  is  after 
all  another  phase  of  the  great  problem  of  human  welfare  and 
national  destiny. 

Lecture  II.     The  Solution  of  the  Rural  Problem. 

Our  task  in  this  lecture  is  to  attempt  the  statement  of  general 
principles  by  which  the  problem  as  presented  in  the  former 
lecture  may  be  solved.  We  do  not  propose  to  go  into  details 
with  respect  to  methods,  but  rather  to  enunciate  those  large, 
general  considerations  which  must  govern  in  the  outworkings 
of  rural  effort. 

Let  it  be  said  at  the  outset  that  there  is  no  panacea  for  the 
rural  problem.  It  is  not  a  simple  problem  —  the  remedy  is  not 
simple.  When  we  come  to  discuss  solutions,  we  are  to  remember 
that  the  different  principles  to  be  utilized  may  be  worked  out 
through  different  institutions.  This  word,  may,  however,  he 
said:  that  inasmuch  as  the  ultimate  problem  is  essentially  social, 
so>  the  forces  to  be  utilized  for  the  direction  of  rural  develop- 
ment are  social.  We  cannot  leave  the  problem  to  the  chances 
of  merely  individual  initiative.  On  the  other  hand,  we  cannot 
consciously  direct  all  the  forces  that  are  to  determine  the  final 
status  of  the  American  farmer.  It  is  not  within  human  power 
to  shape  the  channels  of  social  evolution  with  the  skill  of  an 
engineer.  The  most  that  we  can  do  is  to  call  attention  to  the 
desired  ends,  and  to  set  in  motion  those  forces  within  our  control 


The  Carew  Lectures  63 

that  we  think  will  most  fully  enable  rural  society  to  reach  its 
full  stature. 

The  main  agencies  or  principles  that  are  to  be  utilized  in. 
the  solution  of  the  rural  problem  may  be  classified  into  five 
groups,  which  present  genuine  needs,  and  to  a  large  degree 
real  deficiencies,  in  our  country  life.  They  are  as  follows: 
(1)  Socialization,  (2)  Education,  (3)  Organization,  (4)  Reli- 
gious Idealism,  (5)  Federation  of  Forces. 

I.     Socialization : 

By  Socialization  is  meant  in  general  the  breaking  down  of 
the  extreme  individualism  which  exists  in  most  of  our  country 
life  and  is,  in  fact,  engendered  by  the  farmer's  mode  of  living, 
and  the  bringing  together  of  these  independent  individual  ele- 
ments into  a  more  coherent  social  group.  The  characteristic 
feature  of  country  life  is  the,  at  least  relative,  isolation  of  its 
people.  This  simple  distinction  is  fundamental  in  its  sociological 
bearings.  It  is  the  main  source  of  difference  between  rural  and 
urban  ideals. 

Both  good  and  bad  results  flow  from  this  isolation  of  the 
farming  people.  Undoubtedly  it  makes  for  strong  individual 
character,  and  on  the  whole  for  good  morals  and  particularly 
for  a  superior  family  life  —  nowhere  is  family  life  so  educative 
as  in  the  country.  On  the  other  hand,  the  social  results  are 
generally  bad.  It  is  difficult  to  get  farmers  to  work  together, 
because  they  have  so  long  worked  separately.  They  often  drift- 
out  of  the  current  of  the  world's  thought.  Habits  and  conven- 
tions remain  fixed,  and  stand  in  the  way  of  progress. 

Thus,  at  the  threshold,  we  have  to  meet  this  characteristic 
fact  of  comparative  isolation  in  a  way  to  save  what  is  good  in 
it,  and  to  obviate  what  is  deleterious  in  it.  In  what  ways  may 
we  meet  it?  What  are  the  remedies  for  rural  conditions  that 
are  essentially  non-social?     We  may  consider  four. 

1.  The  Development  of  Better  Means  of  Communication.  It 
is  unnecessary  to  dwell  on  the  advantages  that  have  already 
accrued  to  our  rural  people  through  the  establishment  of  general 
free  rural  mail  delivery,  the  installation  of  rural  telephones,  the 
improvement  of  our  highways,  and  the  building  of  inter-urban 
trolley  lines.  These,  to  be  sure,  all  have  their  reverse  side,  but 
in  spite  of  these  drawbacks,  the  general  tendency  of  all  these 
new  means  of  communication,  everyone  of  which  has  developed 
within  a  dozen  years,  has  been  to  recreate  rural  life.  That  is 
a  strong  phrase,  but  it  is  not  an  exaggeration.  In  regions  where 
these  improvements  prevail,  farmers  are  in  touch  with  one  another 


64  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

as  never  before.  From  the  business,  from  the  social,  and  from 
the  intellectual  points  of  view,  the  pace  has  been  quickened  with 
advantage.  We  can  but  hope  that  in  the  near  future  these  means 
of  communication  will  be  fully  developed  in  practically  every 
corner  of  our  agricultural  area. 

In  this  connection,  a  word  should  be  said  in  regard  to  the 
hamlet  system  as  a  means  of  socializing  our  rural  people.  By 
some  writers  a  general  adoption  of  the  hamlet  system  has  been 
advocated.  Undoubtedly  there  are  some  advantages  attached 
to  the  rural  hamlet,  advantages  which  are  obvious  enough  upon 
the  surface,  and  which  need  no  particular  elucidation.  Personally 
I  have  yet  to  be  persuaded  that  the  hamlet  system  is  to  be  the 
chief  means  in  America  of  socializing  the  farming  class.  The 
difficulty  of  bringing  it  about  is  a  prime  consideration.  More- 
over, one  may  question  the  desirability  of  this  solution.  Further- 
more, the  family  life  of  our  farms,  under  normal  conditions,  is 
the  glory  of  our  country  life.  Its  efficiency,  let  it  be  said,  is 
due  in  part  to  a  degree  of  isolation.  And  finally,  there  is  a 
widespread  feeling  that  the  average  boy  is  far  safer,  morally, 
either  in  the  country  or  in  the  large  city,  than  he  is  in  the  average 
village. 

2.  Recreation.  The  closest  observers  of  rural  life  are  quite 
convinced  that  the  recreations  of  the  country,  not  only  for 
children  but  for  young  people  and  for  adults  as  well,  are  grossly 
inadequate.  There  are  notable  exceptions  to  these  general  truths, 
and  there  are  wide  variations  of  conditions,  but  in  general  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  rural  life  is  lacking  in  recreation.  The  dearth 
of  wholesome  amusement  for  children  and  youth  is  particularly 
noticeable.  The  movement  for  organized  and  educative  play 
for  city  children  may  well  have  its  counterpart  in  the  country. 

3.  The  Enrichment  of  Woman's  Life.  There  are  thousands 
of  farm  women  who  live  a  normal,  happy  life.  At  the  same  time, 
it  is  beyond  question  that  the  lot  of  many  a  woman  on  a  farm 
is  far  from  desirable  —  less  desirable  than  that  of  the  man.  So 
far,  we  are  doing  little  for  the  farmer's  wife.  From  one  point 
of  view  the  farm  woman  is  the  key  to  the  rural  situation.  Her 
status,  her  intelligence,  her  happiness,  her  welfare,  her  ideals, 
her  intellectual  development,  are,  on  the  farm  as  elsewhere,  the 
test  of  civilization.  Anything  that  will  enrich  family  life  must 
have  a  profound  influence  upon  the  ultimate  solution  of  the 
farm  problem.  Here  is  a  field  that  has  virtually  been  untouched 
by  those  interested  in  rural  life,  and  yet  it  is  perhaps  the  crucial 
test. 

4.  The  Community-sense,  or  Neighborhood  Spirit.  For  the 
most  part  farm  life  is  broken  up  into  little  neighborhoods,  without 


The  Carew  Lectures  65 

exact  boundaries,  without  very  much  coherence,  and  in  fact 
without  much  to  tie  people  into  a  real  group.  If  the-  farmer  is 
to  be  socialized,  it  must  be  done  objectively.  He  must  have 
something  to  work  for  that  is  definite  and  worth  while.  Probably 
this  can  come  about  only  by  a  definite  propaganda  which  involves 
a  full  program  for  individual  and  community  betterment,  perme- 
ated by  a  sufficient  leaven  of  idealism  to  stir  the  imagination 
and  give  moral  values  to  the  ends  to  be  striven  for  by  the  people 
themselves. 

II.     Education : 

There  are  three  phases  of  rural  education :  First,  the  acquir- 
ing of  accurate  knowledge  about  agriculture  and  country  life ; 
second,  the  education  of  youth  in  schools  and  colleges ;  and 
third,  the  wide  dissemination  among  all  people  of  the  knowledge 
of  agriculture  and  country  life. 

The  Acquiring  of  Knowledge.  Within  a  generation  institu- 
tions in  America  have  been  organized  for  the  sole  business  of 
instituting  scientific  research  into  the  realm  of  laws  governing 
agricultural  operations,  and  for  experimenting  with  the  practical 
application  of  those  laws  to  the  soil,  the  plant,  and  the  animal. 
This  work  has  been  done  principally  by  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  and  by  the  splendid  system  of  agricultural 
experiment  stations,  supported  in  part  by  the  government  and  in 
part  by  the  states.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  great  as  has  been  their 
work,  "  it  has  but  just  begun,"  to  use  a  common  but  striking 
phrase. 

Until  very  recently  almost  no  attention  has  been  given  to 
the  scientific  study  of  economic  and  social  aspects  of  the  business 
of  farming  and  the  life  of  the  rural  people.  This  neglected  field 
is  also>  to  be  tilled  with  thoroughness,  and  study  therein  promises 
to  be  fully  as  rewarding  for  human  welfare  as  in  the  researches 
of  the  chemist  and  biologist. 

Still  another  form  of  acquiring  knowledge  is  being  organized. 
At  present  it  goes  by  the  name  of  an  "Agricultural  Survey." 
The  next  few  years  will  see  a  large  development  of  agricultural 
surveys,  which  shall  attempt  to  collate  and  systematize  informa- 
tion relative  to  the  natural  conditions  which  concern  individual 
farmers,  as  of  soil,  climate,  etc. ;  the  more  minute  economic 
conditions  that  govern  his  work,  such  as  local  markets  and  trans- 
portation; the  methods  of  farm  management  by  which  he 
correlates  the  various  factors  of  production  and  distribution  to 
his  own  best  advantage;  and  the  social  life  which  represents 
his  environment,  with  its  contribution  to  his  industrial  efficiency 
and  to  the  enlargement  of  his  own  individual  spirit. 
January  —  5 


66  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

The  Development  of  the  School  as  a  Means  of  Rural 
Education.  There  are  two  large  movements  necessary  in  the 
growth  of  schools  for  the  education  of  the  rural  people.  The 
first  lies  with  the  rural  school,  i.  e.,  the  common  public  school 
situated  in  a  rural  environment.  There  are  three  great  difficul- 
ties in  rural  school  work.  First,  to  secure  a  modern  school  at 
an  expense  that  is  within  the  reach  of  the  community.  For  this 
end  state  aid  must  be  invoked  on  the  principles  that  all  the 
wealth  of  the  state  must  provide  for  the  education  of  all  the 
youth  of  the  state,  and  that  the  country  boy  and  girl  are  entitled 
to  the  best  education  which  the  state  can  afford.  Second,  to 
provide  adequate  high  school  facilities.  This  will  have  to  be 
done  largely  by  a  centralization  of  schools,  and  by  transporting 
students  either  in  vans  or  on  trolley  lines.  Third,  to  make  the 
school  a  vital  and  coherent  part  of  the  community  life. 

The  second  movement  in  rural  education  is  definite  school 
instruction  in  agriculture  as  a  vocational  subject.  At  this  point 
there  is  a  great  gap  in  our  educational  system.  We  need  finishing 
schools,  approximately  of  secondary  grade,  in  which  the  leading 
effort  shall  be  to  educate  pupils  for  agriculture  and  country  life. 
Both  the  existing  high  schools  and  specially  established  schools 
will  be  utilized  for  this  great  work  of  vocational  training  in 
agriculture. 

At  the  present  time,  our  agricultural  colleges  are  the  most 
prominent  feature  of  agricultural  instruction.  A  brief  summary 
of  the  agricultural  vocations  for  which  agricultural  colleges  may 
prepare  would  include  (i)  independent  farming,  (2)  vocations 
connected  with  agriculture,  such  as  the  Forestry  Service,  or  the 
superintendency  of  large  estates,  (3)  research  and  teaching  along 
agricultural  lines,  (4)  positions  in  general  enterprises  more  or 
less  dependent  upon  agriculture,  such  as  the  canning  industries, 
the  fertilizer  business,  etc.,  (5)  a  series  of  vocations  which 
are  really  agricultural  in  their  nature,  requiring  agricultural 
training,  and  in  which  too,  there  are  developed  leaders  in  social 
service,  such  as  teachers  in  rural  communities,  rural  librarians, 
rural  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretaries,  and  country  clergymen. 

Popular  Education  in  Agriculture.  There  is  a  multitude  of 
ways  by  which  information  about  agriculture  and  country  life 
may  be  given  currency  among  the  people  at  large.  This  work, 
in  a  broad  way,  is  known  as  Extension  Work,  and  it  means 
the  development  in  organized  form  of  various  methods  of  reach- 
ing the  farmers,  at  or  near  their  homes.  It  consists  of  three 
rather  distinct  methods,  or  types  of  work.  (1)  Formal  Teach- 
ing, or  systematic  instruction.  (2)  Work  that  is  more  or  less 
advisory  and  suggestive,  and  perhaps  not  thoroughly  organized. 


The  Carew  Lectures  67 

(3)  The  third  type  of  this  extension  work  may  be  called  "  Co- 
ordination," by  which  an  effort  is  made  to  bring  together  the 
different  agencies  representing  the  rural  movement.  Extension 
work  promises  to  become  one  of  the  most  important  branches  of 
the  agricultural  college  activity,  and  in  fact  lies  at  the  basis  of  a 
complete  educational  system  for  agriculture  and  country  life.  The 
working  farmer  must  be  reached  on  his  own  farm. 

III.     Organization : 

The  history  of  agricultural  organizations  in  America  is  a  very 
interesting  one,  beginning  with  the  development  of  the  agricul- 
tural fairs,  the  farmers'  clubs,  etc.,  and  ending  with  the  great 
farmers'  movements  of  the  last  third  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
It  is  important  not  to  omit  from  a  discussion  of  the  rural  problem 
the  place  which  organization  fills  in  its  solution.  It  is  a  funda- 
mental necessity. 

Organization  becomes  a  test  of  class  efficiency.  Can  the  class 
maintain  an  organization  that  enables  it  to  assert  itself,  to  make 
itself  felt  for  its  own  interests  and  for  the  interests  of  the  nation  ? 

Organization  is  also  a  powerful  educational  force.  When- 
ever a  class  of  people  organizes  for  a  given  purpose,  it  is  bound 
to  debate  the  most  fundamental  considerations  of  political  and 
industrial  life,  and  such  discussion  cannot  but  be  educative  in 
its  results.  The  social  tendency  of  the  age  is  clearly  towards 
social  self-direction.  It  is  a  mark  of  progress  when  a  class  can 
organize  and  determine  its  course.  The  fact  that  other  classes 
are  organized  is  therefore  a  very  good  reason  why  the  farmers 
should  organize.  They  need  to  organize  for  self-protection.  Not 
only  so,  but  no  class  of  people  can  in  an  unorganized  form  assert 
itself  as  a  part  of  the  national  life.  In  some  way  there  must  be 
a  chance  to  gather  up  the  group  sentiment,  the  group  power, 
the  group  opinion  and  bring  it  to  bear  on  great  issues. 

At  two  points  particularly  is  there  great  need  for  adequate 
organization  of  the  agricultural  classes.  The  present  unsatis- 
factory system  of  distribution  of  farm  products  can  never  be 
fully  remedied  until  farmers  combine  in  a  systematic  and  com- 
prehensive fashion  for  business  cooperation. 

It  is  also  vitally  necessary  that  farmers  shall  insist  upon 
legislation  favorable  to  their  own  interests.  I  do  not  mean  class 
legislation  in  an  individual  sense,  but  laws  that  give  substantial 
justice  to  the  farmers  as  producers. 

Of  course  there  are  possible  disadvantages  coming  from 
farmers'  organizations.  They  may  emphasize  undesirable  class 
distinctions.     They   may   be  unwisely   led.      They  may  tend   to 


68  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

eliminate  the  individual.  These  are  small  things  about  which 
we  may  be  cautious.  Fundamentally,  organization  is  essential 
to  rural  progress  and  the  solution  of  the  rural  problem.  Probably 
the  great  development  of  agricultural  organization,  in  the  future, 
lies  along  the  lines  of  business  cooperation. 

IV.  Religious  Idealism: 

The  groundwork  of  all  efforts  on  behalf  of  the  rural  people 
is  to  establish  the  highest  possible  ideals  for  personal  and  com- 
munity life.  This  idealism  ought  to  permeate  all  attempts  at 
socialization,  all  efforts  at  education,  all  movements  for  organi- 
zation. Necessarily,  however,  it  will  be  fostered  most  completely 
by  the  institutions  of  religion  —  by  the  church  and  its  allies. 
This  idealism  will,  first  of  all,  have  to  do  with  the  ethics  of  the 
situation,  with  the  moral  standards  and  habits  of  the  people. 
But  there  is  another  element  in  this  development  of  rural  idealism 
that  needs  to  be  emphasized,  the  necessity  of  stimulating  a  love 
and  appreciation  of  the  rural  environment  and  life.  Agriculture, 
even  with  the  use  of  machinery,  yields  itself  more  fully  than  any 
other  industry  to  the  poetic  note.  Now,  this  poetic  phase  of 
country  life,  not  as  sentimentalism,  not  as  mere  luxury  of  the 
senses,  but  as  real,  genuine  romance  and  poetry  at  the  heart  of 
things,  and  as  tied  up  with  the  processes  of  agriculture  and  with 
the  life  in  the  open,  must  penetrate  the  souls  of  the  dwellers  upon 
the  land.  The  church  ought  to  welcome  the  efforts  of  any  agency 
that  will  cultivate  this  spirit  of  idealism  in  the  country  community 
among  the  rural  people.  At  the  same  time,  the  church  is  pecu- 
liarly the  conservator  of  the  highest  type  of  idealism  —  that 
which  is  moved  by  the  religious  instinct  and  belief.  It  ought  to 
minister  to  the  highest  things  in  personal  and  community  life. 

V.  Federation  of  Forces : 

To  carry  out  these  principles  of  Socialization,  Education, 
Organization,  Idealism,  it  is  obvious  that  we  must  have  social 
agencies,  machinery,  institutions.  We  need  a  clearing-house 
for  all  rural  workers  and  interests,  in  order  that  the  ultimate 
goal  of  rural  life  may  be  kept  constantly  in  mind,  and  that  all 
workers  may  square  their  special  labors  to  the  main  task.  In 
fine,  we  need  in  the  country  the  counterpart  of  the  new  movement 
for  "  city-planning,"  a  movement  which  shall  be  a  real  "  campaign 
for  rural  progress." 

A  necessary  corollary  of  this  "  campaign  for  rural  progress  " 
is  the  development  of  personal  leadership  in  rural  communities. 
Individual  men  and  women  must  do  what  needs  doing  —  institu- 


The  Carew  Lectures  69 

tions  are  but  vehicles  for  carrying  human  endeavor,  boilers  for 
generating  human  powers. 

Lecture  IV.     Difficulties  and  Suggestions. 

Thus  far  we  have  been  discussing  the  more  theoretical  aspects 
of  the  relationship  between  the  church  and  the  rural  problem.  We 
come  now  to  a  brief  discussion  of  some  of  the  practical  questions 
involved  in  the  work  of  the  church  in  the  rural  community. 

First  let  us  discuss  some  difficulties  that  face  the  church  as 
it  attempts  to  work  out  its  task  in  the  rural  community.  We 
may  divide  these  into  two  classes  —  the  difficulties  with  respect 
to  the  church  as  an  institution,  and  those  special  difficulties  that 
meet  the  clergyman  in  the  country  parish. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  there  are  too  many  churches.  There  are, 
to  be  sure,  counter  considerations  which  explain  this  situation 
and,  in  part  at  least,  excuse  it;  but  the  general  proposition  is 
valid.  Rural  regions  as  a  rule  are  over-churched.  There  are 
exaggerated  cases  of  this  condition  observable  everywhere,  as  for 
instance,  when  four  or  five  small  struggling  churches  exist  within 
a  constituency  hardly  large  enough  or  wealthy  enough  to  main- 
tain more  than  one  strong  church.  The  problem  of  adequately 
financing  the  country  church  under  a  system  of  voluntary  contri- 
butions is  an  extremely  difficult  problem  at  best.  Now  when  you 
add  to  this  natural  difficulty,  the  necessity  of  keeping  up  three  or 
four  establishments  where  one  would  answer,  and  then  add  to 
this  again  the  modest  financial  ability  of  the  average  farm  com- 
munity, you  have  a  condition  of  things  that  is  well-nigh  hopeless. 

II.  Another  difficulty  in  the  country  church  is  the  great 
danger  of  an  undue  development  of  the  "  boss  system  "  in  church 
management.  This  is  by  no  means  universal,  but  it  is  not  an  un- 
common phenomenon  that  some  vigorous  personality,  one  among 
a  few,  is  likely  to  dominate  the  small  country  church ;  and  when 
this  is  the  case  there  is  a  combination  of  circumstances  that  fre- 
quently makes  it  almost  impossible  for  an  ambitious  minister  to 
do  anything  worthy. 

III.  During  the  past  generation  the  church  has  suffered  in 
leadership  because  other  institutions  have  competed  with  it  for 
social  service.  These  organizations  not  only  compete  with  the 
church  socially,  but  they  absorb  time  and  energy  and  money  that 
might  otherwise,  in  part  at  least,  be  devoted  to  the  church;  and 
worst  of  all  they  sometimes  produce  the  impression  that  so  far 
as  human  welfare  is  concerned,  they  are  almost  as  serviceable 
as  the  church. 


70  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

IV.  Another  difficulty  with  the  country  church,  already 
alluded  to,  is  the  existence  of  low  ideals  of  its  function  —  more 
particularly  with  reference  to  its  relation  to  the  community.  It 
is  a  peril  confronting  every  social  institution,  that  it  may  become 
obsessed  with  its  own  importance,  come  to  live  for  itself.  As 
soon  as  a  social  institution  like  the  church  is  thoroughly  estab- 
lished and  has  a  traditional  hold  upon  the  imaginations  and  habits 
of  people,  it  is  tempted  to  lose  its  spirit  of  service,  and  to  live 
largely  unto  itself.  It  is  fair  to  say  that  the  ideal  for  church 
work  and  service  is  on  a  low  plane  in  the  average  community, 
and  largely  because  the  church  is  so  generally  regarded  as  an  ark 
of  safety  for  those  who  are  wise  enough,  or  righteous  enough,  to 
be  admitted '  on  shipboard ;  instead  of  being,  as  it  ought  to  be, 
an  institution  that  organizes  the  spirit  of  human  brotherhood 
under  the  leadership  of  the  Master  of  life,  for  the  redemption 
of  the  bodies  and  minds  and  hearts  of  men  from  the  bondage  of 
appetite  and  passion,  and  that  ministers  to  the  abiding  need  of 
all  human  souls  for  worship  of  the  Divine  and  for  the  renewal  of 
faith  in  the  things  that  are  eternal.  Let  us  frankly  face  the 
situation ;  let  us  realize  the  need  of  a  higher  and  broader  ideal 
for  the  actual  work  of  the  church  as  a  local  institution. 

V.  Another  difficulty  that  confronts  the  country  church  is 
the  ease  with  which  religion  is  separated  from  life.  There  is  no 
need  of  dwelling  on  this  point.  It  is  a  universal  difficulty.  The 
great  question  is  to  motive  all  our  activities  on  the  highest  lines. 

VI.  As  over  against  this  narrow  idea  of  religion,  there  is 
another  difficulty,  growing  out  of  the  effort  to  remedy  this  nar- 
rowness :  that  the  church  may  attempt  things  not  promotive  of 
religious  life,  or  at  least  may  expend  its  chief  energies  upon 
unimportant  matters. 

Let  us  now  discuss  some  of  the  special  difficulties  that  con- 
front the  minister  of  the  country  church. 

I.  The  first  difficulty  that  shall  be  named  is  that  which 
strikes  at  the  very  root  of  the  country  church  problem, — the 
small  salaries  that  are  paid  to  country  clergymen  as  a  whole. 
There  is  no  body  of  men  deserving  of  greater '  praise  than  the 
ministers  of  the  church,  who  in  all  times  and  in  all  places  have 
sacrificed  high  ambitions,  sometimes  great  positions  and  the 
hope  of  gain,  for  the  sake  of  their  work.  It  is  a  serious  criticism 
of  the  church  that  it  has  permitted  the  present  condition  of 
affairs  to  continue.  The  average  salary  paid  to  our  country 
ministers    is    shamefully    low,    disgracefully    inadequate.      The 


The  Carew  Lectures  7\ 

church   has   no   right  to   ask   its   leaders   to   serve  under   such 
conditions. 

II.  Another  difficulty  is  the  small  field,  with  widely  scattered 
parishioners.  Of  course  it  is  possible  for  a  clergyman  to 
thoroughly  cultivate  a  small  field.  Intensive  parish  work  is  per- 
haps as  desirable  as  intensive  farming.  But  the  limitations  grow- 
ing out  of  the  size  of  the  parish,  the  number  of  people  to  be 
reached,  the  financial  resources  with  which  to  man  the  guns,  are 
abiding  and  serious. 

III.  The  isolation  of  the  country  is  a  serious  difficulty  to  the 
average  country  clergyman. 

IV.  It  would  be  a  slander  on  the  country  clergyman  to  say 
that  as  a  class  they  are  indolent.  Doubtless  it  is  easy  for  the 
country  clergyman  to  become  indolent.  Most  men  need  constant 
stimulus  to  do  their  best  work,  and  the  country  church  supplies 
this  in  relatively  small  measure.  That  the  majority  of  country 
ministers  do  not  let  things  go  their  own  gait  is  a  tribute  to  their 
high  purposes. 

V.  The  question  of  preparation  for  work  in  the  country 
parish  offers  a  difficulty  of  considerable  proportions.  We  now 
ask  our  country  clergymen  to>  take  a  college  course,  followed  by 
a  seminary  course  of  three  years,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-five 
perhaps,  to  "  settle  down  "  at  a  salary  of  $600  or  $800  a  year. 
I  am  not  going  to  propose  a  lowering  of  the  educational  standard. 
The  question,  however,  is  inevitable.  Is  it  not  asking  what  is 
next  to  impossible  when  the  attempt  is  made  to  train  a  large  body 
of  men  for  a  permanent  country  ministry,  under  existing  condi- 
tions, -with  the  expenditure  of  time  and  money  now  required,  and 
with  salaries  continuing  at  the  present  standards? 

But  a  far  more  important  question  is  this :  Are  men  really 
being  prepared  for  the  country  ministry?  Do  the  seminary 
graduates  go  to  the  country  parish  with  the  intention  of  making 
it  a  life  work?  When  they  do  go,  do  they  understand  the  prob- 
lems of  the  community  ?  How  to  induce  the  young  clergyman  to 
make  country  church  work  his  life  work,  how  to  prepare  him 
for  that  work  so  that  he  shall  go  to  it  with  clear  insight,  is  to  my 
mind  a  difficulty  of  extreme  significance. 

VI.  The  final  difficulty  that  I  see  with  respect  to  the  country 
clergyman  is  that  if  he  becomes  a  community  leader,  as  he  ought, 
he  may  scatter  his  energies.  He  must  be  a  student  of  large 
affairs.  He  must  know  his  community.  He  cannot  neglect  his 
professional  study.  All  this  means  hard,  untiring  work.  One 
may  easily  become  superficial. 


72  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

The  title  of  this  lecture  is  "  Difficulties  and  Suggestions." 
We  have  dwelt  somewhat,  perhaps  too  strongly,  upon  the  diffi- 
culties. The  'suggestions  that  are  to  follow  must  be  put  very 
briefly. 

I.  First  of  all,  I  shall  strongly  urge  the  study  of  the  country 
church  problem  by  the  seminaries  and  by  various  church  organi- 
zations. We  first  need  to  know  the  facts,  to  know  what  the  real 
problems  are.  Let  us  have  then  a  comprehensive  field  study  of 
the  actual  problem  of  the  country  church. 

II.  Inaugurate  a  definite  movement  for  the  special  prepara- 
tion of  young  men  for  a  career  in  the  country  parish.  So  far  the 
need  of  this  preparation  has  never  been  fully  recognized.  In 
addition  to  the  conventional  preparation,  the  minister  does  need 
some  special  study  which  shall  bring  him  to  appreciate  the  real 
needs  of  the  rural  people.  At  the  risk  of  seeming  to  speak  as  a 
partisan  of  a  particular  type  of  educational  institution,  I  venture 
to  suggest  that  the  agricultural  colleges  may  also  be  invited  by 
theological  seminaries  and  church  schools  to  cooperate  in  prepar- 
ing men  for  church  work  in  our  rural  communities.  Would  it 
not  help  if  candidates  for  the  country  ministry  should  be  per- 
mitted and  encouraged,  and  possibly  in  some  cases  even  required, 
to  take  more  or  less  work  at  a  well-equipped  agricultural  college, 
as  a  part  of  their  regular  preparation  for  the  rural  parish  ?  Even 
a  summer  school  course  of  a  few  weeks  would  do  a  great  deal 
toward  giving  a  young  man  possession  of  the  general  philosophy 
of  the  rural  problem  and  a  command  of  the  literary  sources  of 
further  study. 

III.  Develop  systematic,  organized  effort  on  behalf  of  a 
more  useful  country  church.  Church  conferences,  frequent  and 
regular  institutes  for  country  pastors,  and  many  other  devices 
can  be  instituted  as  a  part  of  the  machinery  for  this  work.  Well- 
planned  experiments  may  be  tried  under  varying  conditions. 
Make  the  work  of  the  country  church  a  live,  aggressive  work. 

IV.  Encourage  the  federation  of  churches.  This  is  a  funda- 
mental article  in  a  country  church  program.  Subsidiary  to  this 
general  idea  of  federation  are  the  following  suggestions  :  If  actual 
church  union  is  out  of  the  question,  or  the  abolition  of  extraneous 
churches,  let  there  be  cooperation  for  practical  work  in  the  com- 
munity. If  churches  cannot  unite  organically,  can  they  not  unite 
for  service?  The  pitiful  thing  about  our  sectarianism  is  not  so 
much  that  the  church  is  broken  up  into  many  separate  units,  but 
that  this  disunity  of  organization  results  in  religious  inefficiency. 
Of  course,  federation  means  ultimately  the  abolition  of  unneces- 
sary churches.    In  the  language  of  one  of  its  leaders,  there  should 


The  Carew  Lectures  73 

be  neither  "  overlapping- "  nor  "  overlooking,"  but  each  church 
should  be  responsible  for  some  given  territory,  and  the  work  must 
be  so  divided  that  a  systematic  attempt  shall  be  made  to  reach 
every  individual.  This  ought  to  result  in  a  condition  where  the 
church  presents  a  united  front  in  carrying  out  its  real  function. 

V.  Another  important  consideration  that  comes  very  close 
to  this  idea  of  federation  is  that  the  church  shall  make  full  use 
of  its  natural  allies,  such  as  the  Young  People's  Society  and  the 
Sunday  School.  In  this  connection  I  wish  to  speak  a  strong  word 
on  behalf  of  the  county  work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  should  regard  itself  merely  as  a 
specialized  organ  of  the  church,  and  there  should  be  the  closest 
cooperation  and  harmony  in  their  work. 

VI.  The  development  of  lay  leadership  in  the  rural  com- 
munity is  a  matter  of  very  large  consequence  in  country  church 
work.  Here  is  another  opportunity  for  the  agricultural  colleges 
and  agricultural  schools  to  help  train  men  who  will  go  back  to 
the  farm,  and  there  not  only  make  a  success  of  the  business  of 
farming,  but  also  throw  themselves  into  community  leadership. 

VII.  There  must  be  a  larger  financial  support.  Two  princi- 
ples may  be  applied  at  this  point.  The  first  principle  is  that  of 
developing  more  completely  local  support.  The  church  is  sup- 
ported by  the  few,  and  sometimes  not  even  adequately  supported 
by  its  own  members.  In  many  places,  enlarged  community 
interest  is  the  only  solution ;  in  still  others,  a  new  standard  of 
giving  by  church  members  must  be  developed. 

The  second  principle  is  based  upon  the  belief  that  while  a 
great  many  rural  communities  can  support  their  own  churches 
without  external  aid,  a  very  large  number  can  never  hope  to  do 
this.  It  has  been  accepted  as  a  principle  among  our  leaders  in 
education  that  the  wealth  of  the  whole  state  must  be  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  all  the  youth  of  the  state.  A  somewhat  similar 
principle  must  often  be  applied  to  the  financial  problem  of  the 
rural  church ;  the  wealth  of  the  whole  church  must  in  some  way 
be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  whole  church.  The  wealth  con- 
centrates in  cities.  If  the  small,  isolated  community  cannot 
sustain  itself,  temporarily,  at  least,  it  must  have  outside  aid. 

There  are  perhaps  four  ways  in  which  this  outside  aid  may 
be  given.  The  first  is  the  most  common  one  —  that  of  aid  from  a 
central,  denominational  home  missionary  society.  The  second  is 
an  endowment  of  individual  churches.  The  third  is  an  endow- 
ment, or  some  special  appropriation  made  by  a  particular  denomi- 
nation, to  aid  the  rural  churches  in  that  denomination.  The 
fourth  is  a  general  endowment  for  the  rural  church  as  such, 
irrespective  of  denominational  lines. 


74  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

The  following  plan  for  developing  support  for  the  country- 
church  is  simply  suggested : 

i.  Let  each  denomination  having  numerous  rural  churches 
segregate  into  a  department  its  work  for  such  churches,  taking 
it  out  of  the  category  of  "  missions,"  but  putting  it  in  each  state, 
or  in  appropriate  groups  of  states,  on  a  firm  administrative 
footing. 

2.  Let  each  denominational  country  church  department 
become  an  active  partner  in  a  general  Country  Church  Associa- 
tion for  the  given  state  or  group  of  states,  thus  representing  the 
total  interest  of  the  church  in  the  rural  problem.  This  Country 
Church  Association  should  include  theological  schools,  repre- 
sentatives of  allied  religious  bodies,  like  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  which 
are  interested  in  rural  work,  and  individual  farmers,  clergymen, 
teachers  and  other  rural  workers. 

3.  Let  each  denominational  department  of  the  country  church 
work  in  close  harmony  with  this  Country  Church  Association  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  in  closest  touch  and  sympathy 
with  the  federation  of  churches. 

4.  Push  the  work  of  church  federation,  eliminating  super- 
fluous churches  when  possible,  and  uniting  all  existing  churches 
for  practical  cooperative  ends. 

Thus  overlapping  could  be  eliminated,  each  church  made 
responsible  for  a  given  territory,  and  no  area  would  be  left  un- 
churched. Self-support  would  be  encouraged  and  required,  and 
exterior  aid  would  be  given  more  nearly  by  obligation,  not  so 
much  by  charity. 

VIII.  I  have  but  one  more  suggestion.  The  church  must 
share  in  a  large  campaign  for  rural  progress.  Let  the  church 
relate  itself  to  all  good  movements  for  rural  betterment.  Let  it 
become  an  ally  and  leader  of  all  the  great  agencies  that  promise 
to  create  a  new  rural  civilization,  to  maintain  the  status  of  the 
rural  people.  Let  it  not  think  anything  unclean.  Let  it  not  hold 
itself  aloof  from  Samaritan  or  Gentile.  Let  it  reach  the  hearts 
of  men  through  their  daily  lives  and  daily  toil. 

Lecture  V.     The  Call  of  the  Country  Parish. 

The  countryside  is  calling,  calling  for  men.  The  great  need 
of  the  present  is  leadership.  Only  men  can  vitalize  institutions. 
The  country  church  wants  men  of  vision,  who  see  the  abiding 
issues  that  the  countryman  must  face  and  conquer.  She  wants 
practical  men,  who  can  bring  things  to  pass.  She  wants  original 
men,  who  can  enter  a  human  field  poorly  tilled,  and  by  new 


The  Carew  Lectures  75 

methods  can  again  secure  a  harvest  that  will  gladden  the  heart 
of  the  great  Husbandman.  She  wants  aggressive  men,  who  grow 
frequent  crops  of  new  ideas  and  dare  to  subject  them  to  the  flails 
of  practical  trial.  She  wants  trained  men,  who  have  hammered 
out  a  plan  for  an  active  campaign  for  the  rural  church.  She 
wants  men  with  enthusiasms,  whose  spirit  is  not  quenched  by  the 
waters  of  adversity. 

She  wants  persistent  men,  who  will  stand  by  their  task.  She 
wants  constructive  men,  who  can  transmute  visions  into  wood 
and  stone,  dreams  into  live  institutions,  hopes  into  fruitage.  She 
wants  heroic  men  —  men  who  love  adventure  and  difficulty,  men 
who  can  work  alone  with  God  and  suffer  no  sense  of  loneliness. 

There  are  numerous  and  powerful  appeals  coming  up  from 
the  tillers  of  the  soil  to  those  still  undecided  as  to  the  life  task. 
Let  us  name  some  of  these  appeals. 

There  is  the  abiding  significance  of  the  great  problem  of  agri- 
culture and  country  life.  A  fundamental  human  industry  is  to 
be  fostered.  Scores  of  millions  of  American  citizens  are  to  be 
educated  for  life's  work.  These  people  are  to  be  served  by  state 
and  school.  These  millions  are  to  retain  a  place  in  advancing 
American  life  consistent  with  our  traditions  and  our  hopes.  The 
need  of  the  church  in  all  these  great  enterprises  of  rural  society 
constitutes  an  appeal.  Let  no  pressure  of  appeal  from  city  slum, 
from  lumber-camp  or  mining  village,  from  immigrants'  need, 
from  bleeding,  impoverished  Armenia,  from  the  newly  pulsing 
China,  or  from  the  islands  of  the  sea — heart-wringing  and 
burning  as  these  calls  may  be  —  let  none  of  these  things  blind  us 
to  the  slow-moving  but  irresistible  tides  of  human  life  that  ebb 
and  flow  in  the  homes  and  institutions  of  our  American  farm 
people. 

The  charms  of  the  pastor's  life  in  the  open  country  constitute 
a  call.  For  this  cause  many  are  called  and  few  are  chosen.  But 
for  that  man  who  loves  the  open,  whose  heart  responds  to  the 
soft  music  of  meadow  and  field,  whose  ear  is  attuned  to  the 
rhythm  of  the  seasons,  who  feels  the  romance  of  intelligent  care 
of  soil  and  plant  and  animal  —  to  that  man  the  rural  parish  offers 
rewards  beyond  all  price. 

The  opportunities  offered  by  the  country  parish  for  breadth 
of  culture  constitute  a  call  not  usually  put  down  in  the  list  of 
reasons  for  being  a  country  clergyman.  One  does  not  need  con- 
stant access  to  great  libraries  in  order  to  acquire  culture.  Culture 
is  appreciation  of  environment.  It  is  a  process  of  soul  ripening. 
Close  observation,  meditation,  pondering  in  the  heart,  much 
thinking,  are  the  favorite  tools  of  culture. 


76  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

The  very  presence  of  the  difficulties  in  country  church  work 
formulates  a  distinct  call  to  men  who  like  to  conquer  circum- 
stance. The  dearth  of  men  constitutes  a  call.  To  those  men  who 
have  the  pioneer  spirit  there  comes  a  strong  appeal  from  the 
rural  church.  For  here  is  a  chance  for  unique  work,  something 
different,  and  yet  supremely  useful  as  well  as  rare. 

The  timeliness  of  a  redirected  country  church  work  consti- 
tutes an  appeal.  There  are  large  stirrings  in  all  rural  affairs. 
The  fields  are  alive  with  movements  for  better  farming,  for  more 
useful  education,  for  cooperation.  As  never  before,  the  country 
minister  has  efficient  allies.  And  the  church  at  large  is  stirring. 
She  observes  that  the  notes  of  idealism  are  betimes  deadened  by 
the  "  wearisome  sound  of  the  scythe  of  time  and  the  trowel  of 
trade."  The  man  who  goes  to  the  country  parish  is  captain  in 
the  host  of  a  growing  army  that  seeks  to  command  the  countryside 
as  well  as  to  capture  cities. 

The  final  and  the  supreme  call  from  the  country  parish  comes 
out  of  the  abiding  hunger  of  men  and  women  for  religion  — 
religion  interpreted  in  terms  of  daily  toil,  common  human  need, 
social  evolution,  justice  and  fraternity.  Is  it  a  small  and  mean 
task  to  maintain  and  enlarge  in  the  country  both  individual  and 
community  ideals,  under  the  inspiration  and  guidance  of  the 
religious  motive,  and  to  help  forty  millions  of  rural  people  to 
incarnate  those  ideals  in  personal  and  family  life,  in  industrial 
effort  and  political  development  and  in  all  social  relationships? 

In  all  the  days  of  the  church,  men  have  been  found  who  illus- 
trated in  their  own  lives  the  opportunities  that  lie  before  the 
clergyman  in  the  country  parish.  At  this  moment  there  are  men, 
in  all  parts  of  our  own  land,  who  see  this  new  call  of  the  country 
parish  and  are  responding  intelligently  and  gallantly.  But  one 
name  gives  us  entrance  into  such  a  wealth  of  inspiration  and 
suggestion  that  we  may  pause  to  review  the  work  and  method 
of  the  man. 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  John  Frederick 
Oberlin,  bachelor  of  arts  and  doctor  of  philosophy  of  a  great 
university,  masterful  student  and  courageous  leader,  declared 
that  he  did  "  not  wish  to  labor  in  some  comfortable  pastoral 
charge,"  where  he  could  be  at  ease ;  but  "  the  question  is,  where 
can  I  be  most  useful?"  God  answered  his  prayer,  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty-seven  this  man,  who  might  have  had  a  powerful 
church  in  a  great  center,  entered  upon  his  life-task,  under  the 
most  forbidding  conditions,  in  the  Ban-de-la-Roche,  among  the 
"  blue  Alsatian  mountains."     Before  his  life  work  was  finished 


The  Carew  Lectures  77 

this  rural  community  was  so  transformed  in  its  whole  life  by  his 
influence  that  the  King  of  France  conferred  on  him  the  medal  of 
the  Legion  of  Honor. 

By  what  miracle  was  this  transformation  wrought?  By 
preaching  ?  Yes ;  Oberlin  never  failed  to  prepare  his  sermons 
with  the  greatest  care.  He  was  a  reader  of  science,  of  history, 
of  philosophy.  Even  in  his  mountain  eyrie,  he  kept  in  touch  with 
the  world's  thought.  But  was  it  by  reading  and  study  and  faithful 
preaching  alone  that  the  change  came  ?    Listen ! 

Oberlin  secured  the  first  schoolhouse  by  promising  that  it 
should  cost  the  people  nothing.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  paid  a 
substantial  share  of  the  cost  of  two  schoolhouses  out  of  the 
savings  of  a  salary  of  $200  a  year.  He  shouldered  a  pick  and  led 
the  work  of  building  the  first  highway  and  bridging  the  mountain 
stream.  He  proved  that  horticulture  was  practicable  in  the  region 
by  himself  planting  successful  orchards.  He  introduced  new 
varieties  and  new  crops.  He  organized  societies  and  clubs.  He 
taught  manners  and  morals.  He  planned  and  directed  the  school 
work  in  every  detail.  In  the  beginning,  all  of  these  efforts  were 
opposed  most  vigorously.  Some  even  tried  to  intimidate  him. 
He  carried  every  reform  against  severe  opposition.  He  helped 
the  people  in  spite  of  themselves.  But  in  all  his  efforts  he  kept 
the  religious  element  to  the  fore.  All  things  were  to  be  done  for 
God  as  well  as  for  oneself.  He  himself,  while  practical  in  the 
extreme,  was  also  spiritual  to  the  verge  of  mysticism. 

Rural  parishes  in  America  that  present  the  woeful  conditions 
of  the  Ban-de-la-Roche  in  1767  may  not  be  common.  Yet  the 
underlying  philosophy  of  Oberlin's  life  work  must  be  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  the  great  country-parish  work  of  the  future. 
Oberlin  believed  in  the  unity  of  life,  the  marriage  of  labor  and 
living.  He  knew  that  social  justice,  intelligent  toil,  happy  environ- 
ment, are  tied  up  with  the  growth  of  the  spirit.  They  act  and 
react  upon  one  another.  He  built  a  new  and  permanent  rural 
civilization  that  lasts  to  this  day  unspoiled. 

The  parishes  about  the  little  village  of  Waldersbach,  nestled 
among  the  Vosges  mountains,  thus  became  a  laboratory  in  which 
the  call  of  the  country-parish  met  a  deep  answer  of  success  and 
of  peace. 

There  is  a  new  interest  in  American  country  life.  The  love 
of  the  out-of-doors  is  growing.  The  unity  of  national  life  is 
found  to  consist  in  developing  both  urban  and  rural  civilization. 
Great  movements  are  under  way  designed  to  increase  the  yield 
of  the  soil,  to  put  agriculture  on  a  better  business  basis,  to  educate 


7S  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

rural  youth,  to  secure  cooperative  effort  among  farmers.  Is  the 
church  also  astir  in  rural  places?  The  country  church  has  been 
a  saving  salt  in  the  development  of  our  great  farming  areas ;  is 
she  alive  today  to  these  new  movements?  Is  she  leading  in  the 
campaign  for  rural  progress  ? 

The  most  ardent  friend  of  the  country  church  must  give  a 
sorrowful  "  No  "  in  reply  to  these  questions.  The  present  situa- 
tion, then,  is  nothing  less  than  critical.  It  is  vital  that  the  new 
country-life  movements  be  given  a  religious  content.  There  is 
no  time  to  be  lost.    The  floods  are  rising.    The  day  is  at  hand. 

What  shall  we  do  to  arouse  the  country  church,  to  give  it  its 
rightful  place  among  the  forces  at  work  for  solving  the  rural 
problem  ? 

We  must  ask  men  to  consecrate  themselves  to  life-long  service 
in  the  country  parish.  We  must  root  out  the  idea  that  only  in- 
ferior men  can  find  a  permanent  work  in  the  country  parish.  The 
issues  at  stake  merit  the  leadership  of  great  men. 

We  must  go  out  to*  the  men  now  toiling  in  the  rural  parishes, 
with  a  message  of  cheer,  of  cooperation,  of  encouragement. 

We  must  appeal  to  the  seminaries  and  other  training  schools 
for  preachers  to  send  forth  men  who  have  formed  a  well-grounded 
ambition  to  explore  the  resources  of  this  great  field,  and  who 
have  qualified  themselves  for  the  task  —  who  are  well-armored 
for  the  campaign. 

We  must  go  to  the  colleges  and  appeal  to  strong  young  men 
who  want  hard  places,  who  love  to  take  chances,  who  have  withal 
the  desire  to  serve  their  fellows  mightily. 

We  must  appeal  to  the  heroic  in  young  men.  Let  us  not  try 
to  show  that  the  country  parish  is  a  garden  of  delight,  a  place  of 
rest  and  ease.  Rather  let  its  difficulties  and  puzzling  problems 
constitute  a  clarion-call  to  the  men  of  heroic  mold.  We  must 
show  them  that  here  is  really  a  man's  work,  that  something  vital 
is  at  stake.  We  must  appeal  to  high  motives,  expect  large 
sacrifices. 

The  critical  need  just  now  is  for  a  few  strong  men  of  large 
power  to  get  hold  of  this  country-church  question  in  a  virile  way. 
It  is  the  time  for  leadership.  More  than  all  else  just  now,  we 
need  a  few  men  to  achieve  great  results  in  the  rural  parish,  to 
re-establish  the  leadership  of  the  church.  No  organization  can 
do  it.  No  layman  can  do  it.  No  educational  institution  can  do  it. 
A  preacher  must  do  it.  Do  it  in  spite  of  small  salary,  isolation, 
conservatism,  restricted  field,  over-churching,  or  any  other  devil 
that  shows  its  face.    The  call  is  imperative.     Shall  we  be  denied 


Happenings  in  the  Seminary  79 

the  men  ?  Is  not  the  time  ripe  for  a  new  "  rural  band  " —  a  group 
of  half-a-dozen  men  from  the  seminary,  who  find  adjacent  par- 
ishes in  a  rural  region,  and  there  quietly,  cooperatively,  persist- 
ently, grimly,  study  the  situation,  take  leadership  in  all  community 
life? 

The  time  is  ripe  also  for  an  organized  movement  on  behalf  of 
the  country  parish,  that  shall  give  dignity  and  direction  to  the 
efforts  of  solitary  workers.  The  country  parish  is  a  peculiar  field. 
New  methods  are  needed.  Men  must  be  aroused  from  lethargy. 
A  powerful  cooperative  enterprise  must  set  standards,  educate 
men,  coordinate  effort. 


During  the  fall  and  early  winter  the  Seminary  has  heard  addresses 
in  the  Chapel  or  the  Friday  evening  meeting  of  the  students  as  follows : 
Rev.  Sherrod  Soule,  Superintendent  of  the  Connecticut  Missionary  Society, 
spoke  on  "  Personal  Experiences  in  Building  up  a  Church  " ;  Rev.  John 
Coleman  Adams,  D.D.,  on  "  The  Inspiration  of  Books  " ;  Miss  Gauthier, 
Probation  Officer  of  the  Juvenile  Court,  upon  "  The  Work  of  the  Juvenile 
Court " ;  Rev.  J.  H.  Twitched  on  "  The  Annals  of  a  Neighborhood,"  and 
Edward  W.  Capen,  Ph.D.,  on  "  Travels  in  Mission  Fields." 

A  definite  and  inviting  form  of  home  missionary  activity  was  presented 
by  Secretary  H.  C.  Herring,  who  indicated  the  special  promise  of  work 
in  the  Dakotas,  Idaho  and  Wyoming,  and  pointed  out  the  advantages  to 
men  of  going  as  a  band  of  acquaintances  and  neighbors  to  selected  fields 
in  one  of  those  states. 

The  students  have  also  had  opportunity  of  attending  in  the  Seminary 
Chapel  an  address  by  Mr.  George,  on  "  The  George  Junior  Republic,"  and 
a  lecture  by  Professor  B.  W.  Bacon  of  Yale  Divinity  School,  on  "  Greek 
Influence  in   Palestine." 

Two  important  conventions  have  come  within  the  Seminary  horizon 
of  late.  The  students  acted  as  hosts  to  the  Seventh  Annual  Meeting  of 
the  Connecticut  Valley  Student  Missionary  Conference,  which  began 
Saturday  evening,  October  30th,  and  continued  with  three  sessions  on 
the  following  day.  About  no  delegates  were  present  from  Amherst, 
Berkeley  Divinity  School,  Dartmouth,  Mt.  Hermon  School,  Northfield 
Seminary,  Mt.  Holyoke  College,  Smith  College,  Springfield  Training 
School,  Williams,  Wesleyan  and  Yale,  besides  the  students  of  the  School 
of  Religious  Pedagogy  and  the  Seminary.  An  informal  reception  and 
supper  in  the  Seminary  upon  the  arrival  of  the  delegates  helped  to  pro- 
mote acquaintance  and  a  sense  of  common  interest  at  the  start ;  and  the 
convention  was  felt  to  be  a  means  of  encouragement  and  stimulus  to  the 
missionary  interest  of  all  present.  Among  the  speakers  were  Dr.  John 
Potts,  Mr.  Latouret,  Dr.  J.  T.  Headland  and  Dr.   S.  M.  Zwemer. 

During  the  Christmas  vacation  the  quadrennial  convention  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  at  Rochester,   N.  Y.,  attracted  18  students 


'so  Hartford  Seminary  Record 

from  the  Seminary  and  several  from  the  School  of  Pedagogy.  Professor 
Gillett  was  also  present,  representing  the  Faculty.  A  well  balanced  report 
of  the  convention  was  given  at  a  fully  attended  meeting  a  day  or  two  after 
their  return  brought  the  impulse  of  the  convention  back  to  the  rest  of  the 
student  body  and  the  Faculty. 

The  sense  of  fellowship  between  Faculty  and  students  was  strengthened 
by  a  social  meeting  toward  the  close  of  the  fall  term,  with  the  whole  con- 
stituency of  the  Seminary  as  its  subject.  The  meeting  was  largely  taken 
up  with  prayer  for  the  graduates  of  the  Seminary  now  at  work  at  home 
and  abroad,  as  well  as  for  those  who  are  in  course  of  preparation  for  the 
ministry.  A  refreshing  freedom  and  earnestness  marked  the  participation 
in  the  meeting. 

The  students  as  usual  have  found  time  for  considerable  activity  outside 
the  requirements  of  the  Seminary  course.  So  far  as  reported  this  work 
is  as  follows :  Five  members  of  the  Senior  Class  have  had  regular  preach- 
ing engagements;  and  two  others  have  positions  as  pastors'  assistants. 
Six  members  of  the  Middle  Class  preach  regularly,  two  of'  them  being 
Armenian  students  who  minister  to  the  people  of  their  own  race  in  New 
Britain  and  in  Thompsonville.  Two  members  of  the  Junior  Class  have 
pastorates. 

An  interesting  experiment  has  been  undertaken  by  two  rural  churches, 
which  unite  in  a  plan  of  pulpit  supply  by  three  Seminary  students,  who 
go  to  these  churches  in  rotation  for  the  Sunday  services. 

Beside  these  regular  appointments,  10  Seniors  have,  between  them, 
conducted  37  preaching  services.  Two  Middlers  have  taken  6  services 
and  one  Junior  reports  a  similar  engagement.  The  Seminary  has  furnished 
one  member  of  a  church  choir,  one  leader  of  a  Mission  Study  Class,  14 
teachers  of  Sunday-school  classes,  three  teachers  of  English  in  night 
schools,  in  connection  with  the  mission  work  of  Warburton  Chapel  and 
three  workers  in  boys'  clubs.  These  are  regular  appointments.  Occasional 
service  of  this  sort  has  been  rendered  by  13  students. 

The  Seminary  has  appointed  Lewis  Hodous,  1900,  a  missionary  of  the 
American  Board  at  Foo  Chow,  China,  as  William  Thompson  Fellow  for 
one  year.  Mr.  Hodous  will  utilize  part  of  his  regular  furlough,  together 
with  additional  time  granted  by  the  Board,  in  the  study  of  Chinese 
literature  with  Dr.  DeGroot  at  Leyden,  Holland.  This  is  a  tribute  to  the 
scholarly  work  that  Mr.  Hodous  has  already  done  on  the  field,  and  a 
renewed  indication  of  the  Seminary's  earnest  cooperation  with  missionary 
endeavor. 


